Namibia Desert Student Program
| Namibia Desert Student Program |
 |
 |
 |
|
Round River's Namibia study abroad program will open your eyes. Be ready for an entirely new experience, because environmental conservation and wildlife management is done differently in Africa. On this program you will learn how history has shaped these practices in Namibia, and how the country’s independence in 1990 left a clean slate for community-based-conservation to develop. Many discussions will flow, from a lectures to a fireside chats – on topics such as the concept of wilderness, poverty, or sustainability. In a group no larger than 10 students, you will have the chance to access remote wilderness areas - often piled in the back of a Land Rover - and will get to know these places well. By the end of your program you will be able to identify species by their tracks, scat, and birdsong. You’ll be able to distinguish between the surprisingly similar call of an ostrich and the growl of a lion in the night. You’ll learn how to change a flat tire, how to bake bread over hot coals, and how to greet Namibians in multiple languages. You will challenge yourself, physically and mentally, and may find you become passionate about an issue you never considered before at home. You will learn to deal with extreme desert climates and limited resources. You will have the chance to step outside of your comfort zone, and will grow immensely from these experiences. The Student Program:Our program in Namibia offers a rich experience in community wildlife conservation. Students spend their time conducting various types of research in the Kunene Region and come away with diverse perspectives of how conservation is done here in local communities; perspectives and experiences that cannot be taught in a classroom. We are based out of our field camp at Wereldsend. Wildlife is abundant throughout this area. This beautiful setting provides students with a comfortable spot to recuperate between field trips, and will be your home for three months. Field trips can range from 3 to 14 days depending on the project, and usually involve a fair amount of driving between sites. Students sleep in heavy-duty canvas tents (provided), cook on gas stoves or over a fire, utilize outhouses and showers, and have ample study space. Wereldsend harnesses solar power to run small electronics and charge batteries. This small desert outback becomes home surprisingly fast. Students will participate in many of the following activities:
Launch Google Earth and see where Round River's Spring 2010 program ventured! A Sample Namibia Program Calendar may be downloaded here. Course Offered:
Program Dates:
The Conservation Context:The Republic of Namibia occupies a large portion of southwestern Africa, lying between the frigid waters of the southern Atlantic Ocean and the expanses of the Kalahari Desert. On its western border is the infamous Skeleton Coast with its barren beaches and rolling dunes. In its varied habitats a diverse array of wildlife survive. Round River works predominantly in the Kunene Region, a 28 million acre area in northwest Namibia. The deserts of the Kunene represent one of the last true wildernesses remaining in southern Africa. This very distinctive ecoregion is home to the black rhino, desert adapted elephants, as well as lion, cheetah, leopard, hyena, mountain zebra, giraffe, springbok, oryx and kudu. This area is rich in cultural diversity as well; the Damara, Himba, and Herrero people live throughout this region, mostly raising livestock (goats and cattle) and growing crops in small gardens. Communities have organized themselves into conservancies, registered with the government, through which they manage their communal land and resources. The Namibian government, working with local traditional authorities and conservancy leaders, is creating a new national park in the Kunene to conserve this vast wilderness and its wildlife, while also linking the Skeleton Coast and Etosha National Parks. This park will be a “People’s Park” and will allow the existing communities to live with wildlife, while facilitating wildlife migrations and creating one of the largest conservation area complexes in the world. Round River is playing a part of this through the Kunene Regional Ecological Assessment (KREA) project. The aim of the KREA is to support the purposes of the proposed park by contributing to the long-term conservation of regional biodiversity. As part of this project, Round River, with the help of our students, has produced comprehensive maps presenting information on wildlife habitat suitability, livestock grazing patterns, villages, and water sources. Student Testimonials"My time in Namibia was the most memorable experience of my life. Round River is such a unique organization that provides the opportunity for future conservation practitioners to play a significant role in community conservation initiatives. These initiatives are not make believe, but instead are directly benefiting the livelihoods of thousands of people. The entire time I was in Namibia I was fully immersed in a place and culture so different than mine. My eyes were opened every day to new people and experiences. Round River gave me the opportunities to interact in a sensitive and meaningful way with indigenous communities. These unique experiences constantly made me revaluate my lifestyle and perceptions of the world. My time in Namibia reinforced my desire to pursue a career in community-based conservation and gave me the professional skills and real world experiences to make that desire a reality." - - Nick (Namibia 2008, Colorado State University ’11) "Round River Namibia was an experience that taught me an incredible amount about not only the land I was staying in, but also myself. The time I spent with Round River was an opportunity to get outside of my comfort zone and examine the world around me with a different perspective. Whether it was adjusting to the ever-changing schedule, or realizing just how bad I really can smell going so long without showers, some of the most adverse challenges turned out to be the ones that made the trip most memorable for me. This program offered me an experience I literally could not have gotten anywhere else. The stark landscapes we lived in and the diverse cultures we worked with made the time I spent abroad one I still have yet to find a fitting description for. To describe it any other way would be an injustice. Offering me a much clearer view of my world around me, Round River gave me a focus that I do not think I would have achieved anywhere else." - - Ben (Namibia 2008, Colby College ‘10) "My time in Namibia with Round River was important personally as well as academically. Seeing how conservation works in a country so different from my own is valuable for developing a global environmental consciousness, and will help me understand conservation initiatives at home. It affirmed my potential career interest in conservation, and gave me insight to the importance of field research in policy and community work. While working on the Kunene Regional Ecological Assessment, I realized that to make conservation work, the focus has to be on people and their relationship to the land they live on, which I had not previously understood. My ability to think independently and introspectively increased, and I gained confidence for traveling in unknown areas. I am deeply grateful for the experience, and I am looking forward to applying the many skills I learned in Namibia to conservation work in the US." - - Erica (Namibia 2008, Whitman College ‘09) Parent Testimonials"I wanted to drop you a note with a parent's perspective regarding my daughter's experience in the Round River Namibia program in the fall of 2009. In short, the program was an outstanding experience for her. I’m very appreciative that this opportunity was available for her, and also that Colby's Off-Campus Study office approved the program for academic credit. "To be specific, the program was strong in several critical respects. First, the learning objectives and academic standards were rigorous, and the academic work was challenging, creative, and rewarding. The course material was highly relevant for our daughter's Environmental Studies degree. Among other tasks, all of the students had to prepare a formal report on some aspect of the content they were learning in Namibia. Our daughter's report was a critical analysis of conservancy systems in Namibia and their levels of success. There were high expectations for the students' work products, and the students worked on these projects with a great deal of dedication and focus. "Second, the organization of the program was first-rate, both stateside and in Africa. During the preparation phase we were kept aware in a timely way of everything that our daughter needed. Round River provided detailed instructions regarding the visa application, and they coordinated the paperwork for all of the student participants. Their program contacts, Doug and Heidi, were consistently available to provide information and to talk, and they were also responsive during the time that our daughter was away in Namibia. "Third, and perhaps needless to say, the experiential part of the program was spectacular. Our daughter has told us numerous stories about the Namibian terrain, the wildlife, the sociopolitical issues, and the remarkable people whom the students met and who played a role in their educational experiences. In sum, as parents, we are extremely pleased with the Round River organization and the educational value of its Namibia program. Based on our daughter's experience, we heartily recommend it for other students who have similar interests, and we certainly recommend that Colby continue to allow students to take advantage of this academic opportunity." - Parent of a Colby College student (Namibia 2009)
Take a look at what our students have been working on!
2011 Human-Wildlife Conflict in Ehi-Rovipuka Conservancy. By Caitlin Campbell and Allison Konkowski. A Vegetation Resource Inventory for Otjiu-West and Omatendeka Conservancies, Kunene Region, Namibia. By Rebekah Woodin, Rachel Brooks, and Rauna Gebhard. Monitoring Methodologies for Black-Faced Impala (Aepyceros melampus petersi) and Plains Zebra (Equus burchelli) in Ehi-rovipuka Conservancy, Namibia. By Sarah Carroll and Anna Schmidt.
2010 Two Pilot Projects: Diurnal Activities and Distribution of Loxodonta africana in the Huab River Catchment, Namibia. By Ashley Dibble and Sarah Stadler. An Assessment of the Protection of Water Points from Elephant Damage in the Sorris-Sorris Conservancy, Namibia. By Emily Moravec and Ryann Milne-Price. A resource inventory of vegetation in the conservancies of Okondjombo, Orupembe, and Sanitatas, Namibia. By Charlotte Alster and Ian Higgins. An Assessment of Plant Resource Use and its Role in Food Security for Communities Living within Bwabwata National Park, West Caprivi. By: Susie Dain-Owens, Jessica Lavelle, Lucy Kemp, Andy Notoupolous, Alex Diemer, Aubree Meyer, Clara Smoniewski, Corrie Wilcox, Jenny Helm, Kim Hackett, Moriah Hounsell, Tessa Emmer, Theo Papademetriou 2009 Assessing the Accuracy of the Relative Likelihood of Grazing Model in the Doro !Nawas Conservancy, By Tyler Andrews and Sophie Ellis Examining Household Level Non-Financial Effects of Membership to Namibian Conservancies, By Blair Braverman Improving Management Decisions: Modules for Ecosystem-Wide Data Collection, By Rachel Cadwallader-Staub and Caroline Turnbull Human-Elephant Conflict and Correspondence to Elephant Habitat Suitability in the Kunene Region, Namibia, By Amber Fischer and Megan Rabinowich Genealogy and Inter-Calving Rates: Analysis of the Reproductive Success of Diceros bicornis in the Kunene Region, By Rebecca Reusch, Alice Wisener, and Lauren Sopher The Effectiveness of Existing Elephant Protection Against Elephant Damage to Artificial Water-Points, By Jessie Swett, Sam Fischer, and Sarah Hart
|
February 17 - May 11
Full
Now accepting applications!
Now accepting applications!